Equipment for dust reduction in grain handling: evaluation of dust and chaft extractor and aspirator

Exposure to hazardous dust is a serious problem for farmer's working environment during handling of grain. The working environment in extreme dusty tasks should be improved through some effective technical approaches. The most common method for dust reduction is the use of equipment for cleaning grain with airflow that can be assembled in the grain flow from conveyors. This study aimed at investigating the level of dust reduction with such equipment. Two types of equipment for dust reduction, namely, dust and chaff extractor and aspirator, were evaluated, respectively. The evaluation was carried out at six occasions in drying plants of farms. The concentration of airborne particles in a size range of 0,1-10,0 µm was continuously collected and stored with a digital instrument. The results show that the average dust concentration varied among the measured occasions. Furthermore, a significant difference between the average dust concentrations with and without the evaluated equipment appeared. With the equipment, the dust concentrations were reduced by almost 50 % on average. The dust concentration without equipment for dust reduction exceeded substantially a health risk threshold value, 5 mg/m , for half of the occasions studied. A lower grain flow had a more dominant impact on the dust reduction rather than the type of equipment used. In addition, the dust in grain plants could be reduced through restricting the distance between conveyor outlet and grain surface in the bin. 3